Quick Car Insurance

Every business owner strives to reduce expenses as much as possible, as a firm’s profit is simply the amount of money left over after expenses are added up and the total is subtracted from the company’s income. This is true in all kinds of economic conditions, and applies to every category of business. However, it’s even more important for the owners of small businesses, especially in difficult economic times. If a small business owner wants his company to survive and prosper, he must reduce his expenses wherever he can. One area every small business owner should consider for cost reduction is insurance. Too many people simply pay their insurance bill every month without stopping to consider if there’s any way to lower their premium.

The good news is that there are actually many ways to lower the cost of small business insurance. Of course, coverage will vary from company to company, and firms in high risk industries, or high crime areas, will naturally pay more than firms which don’t face the same hazards, but generally speaking, almost every business person could be paying less than their current premium for insurance. How? Well, there are four ways to substantially reduce the cost of small business insurance. Let’s look at them.

First, the business owner can improve safety in the workplace. This might mean hiring a professional inspector to conduct a safety audit, but the expense is well worth it if it leads to reduced insurance premiums. The average person doesn’t have the expertise to spot many hidden or less well known safety hazards; calling in a professional who does have these skills can pay off substantially. A person should get a safety audit done, make all recommended changes, and then notify the insurance agent of the changes and ask for a reduced premium.

Introduction

Small store retailing gets in your blood. Prior to being in the insurance business, I was the manager of a small store and after a five year pause in the game publishing business, a partner of a small retail store chain. It is good now to look back from my new perspective as an insurance professional and bring forward insights for small retail store owners.

Love What You Sell

My path into retailing started as a holiday job at the Lubbock mall toy store (South Plains Mall – Toys by Roy). This was in my Junior year at Texas Tech (Go Raiders!) and my parents had gone crazy about my first college job (compliant desk at the Lubbock newspaper from 5am to 9am) because I made the mistake of bragging that I was sleeping though my morning classes but still “Acing” them. I applied as a holiday clerk in the hobby area selling model trains, Estes Rockets, plastic models and other fun stuff. The manager, Phil Hixon noticed my work ethic and understanding of model trains (my older brother was a model railroader) and I was kept on as part-time hobby clerk. While completing my fourth year of my Business degree, I evolved into being the hobby section manager of this large specialty toy store. I loved selling hobbies and wanted our customers to have what they needed for their projects and soon took over ordering for the entire hobby area. I was a Business Major focused on retailing studies after all and this was my first time to put my learning into practice. I also embraced selling children’s toys as an additional passion. I was hooked and while I had several large retailer job offers in the Spring of my senior year, my journey was to be toy & hobby retailing because it was what I loved to sell.

For many of today’s vast and growing industries, significant liability exposures can arise from their products and completed operations compared to their premises and on site operations. Product liability arises when a company can be held responsible for bodily injury or property damage caused by the products they sell, manufacture and or distribute. Completed operations liability results when the company can be held liable for property damage or bodily injury caused by work performed such as service and repairs.

Products and completed operations are often combined together within the insurance policy because they both address the fact that a problem has occurred once control has been relinquished and the product has left the insured’s premises. Product liability insurance has quickly become one of the most important coverage’s that can be obtained today. Constant headlines of defective or tampered products, large judgements and increased litigation has led to demand for safer products across all industries. The treat of mass litigation, and increased insurance costs has encouraged businesses to increase internal safety testing measures while producing safer products for the consumer.

Over the recent Christmas holidays, a large national retailer was in the news for pulling a baby formula from all of their 3000 nationwide outlets. The formula had been linked to an infant death and the chain decided to pull the formula as a precautionary measure until full facts regarding the case were made available. A move like this can cost the manufacturer millions of dollars from lost revenues, product recall, investigating the cause, litigation and potential damages awarded to plaintiff(s). Back in the early 1980′s, six people were killed in Chicago after taking capsules that were found to be laced with Cyanide. The investigation later revealed that the deaths were not due to manufacturing but tampering of the product after reaching the stores. The manufacturer who at the time was unsure if this was a nationwide crisis quickly pulled all of their capsules across the country. This product recall cost them in excess of $100 million.

It is reasonable to ask whether your Club could survive a liability claim. As you probably know, there are programs available for Club insurance that includes Liability and Accident, Director’s, Officer’s Liability and Crime Coverage. However, if a vendor or exhibitor causes an accident at your show, and they do not have general liability insurance coverage, the Club policy likely would have to pay for any damages or medical claims resulting from an injury.

By definition, an accident is not expected, but steps can be taken to prevent one from occurring. So, as a prudent Club manager, you have:

• Set up formal safety requirements with associated inspections
• Purchased a general liability policy
• Made sure dog owners have bite insurance
• Taken steps to prevent being labeled “negligent” in the event a claim is made

Done, right?

Unfortunately, no. If you have vendors or exhibitors at your event, you may be found responsible for any injuries that they may cause. Usually when an injury occurs, everyone gets sued:

• Organizer (your club)
• Venue (where the event occurs)
• Vendor/exhibitor

For example, in August 2011, seven people died when the main stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair. As a result, forty-four survivors have sued the performing band. But even though the performing artist’s contract specified the act had the final say on whether to cancel the concert due to weather, tort claims have been filed against the State Fair and the State of Indiana.

What to do? First, make sure your exhibitors have an up-to-date general liability policy. Check to make sure the effective date is on or before the start of your show, and that the expiration date occurs on or after the end of the show. Standard limits of coverage are:

When one shops around for vehicle and van insurance, one often makes the mistake of just inquiring about how much it will be to buy van insurance, when in fact, the actual contents being transported by the van need to be taken into consideration. The premium needs to adjusted accordingly, as well as the actual van itself. If the van is doing long haul deliveries across borders, then one needs to take into account the fact that the van is not always going be behind a locked gate at night, or in a secure area at the actual business premises.

When looking to buy van insurance, there are many factors that will need to be taken into account, such as the goods being transported, the age of the van, the age and experience of the driver, the drivers driving record and the basic factors as well. However, in the case of a van being part of a fleet of vehicles that make deliveries, there is the chance that one or more of the vehicles could be involved in a motor vehicle accident, be hijacked or stolen. If the vehicle is stolen, and the goods being transported are still in transit, this brings more problems to the fore.

High risk situations such as the possibility that the driver of the van or of another vehicle is seriously injured, could mean that basic van insurance will definitely not be adequate enough to cover injury to people, as medical bills can run up very quickly and before you know it, the medical bills are the same price as a block of flats.